Late Surge Pushes Southwest Dekalb To Win Over Blessed Trinity and Sweet 16
On Tuesday, the Georgia High Association basketball championship tournament opened up with round one action and in girls Class 5A, the Southwest Dekalb Panther hosted the Blessed Trinity Titans. The game would start with both teams struggling offensively throughout the first half, as they each had several turnovers and the first half came to an end with the Panthers leading 10-8.
To start the third quarter, the Titans looked to finally be settling in as they opened the period on a 9-1 run to take a 17-11 lead, with Maura Ryan scoring eight of those points for Blessed Trinity. But the Panthers would pretty much shut the Titans down at that point, swinging momentum in their favor and outscoring the Blessed Trinity 22-4 down the stretch to go on and pick up the 33-21 win. The Panthers led by Alex Jackson with 17 points.
Following the game, Southwest Dekalb head coach, Kathy Richey-Walton, acknowledge her team’s slow start to the game and credited most of it to the team’s inexperience, particularly in post-season play. “It’s a really young team and this was their very first state playoff so you could tell that they were a little nervous and wasn’t quite sure of themselves, but you know, they just kept battling and that’s all we asked for them to do,” Walton said.
Walton jokingly added that in preparing for the second round, she needs her girls to get a little more experienced, but ultimately, she wants to see them work “a little more harder in practice and gain a little confidence,” as they prepare to face the winner of Forest Park and Wayne County in the sweet 16 round of the playoffs on Friday.
